Do you spend too much time adjusting your reeds, getting them to play just right? Do you go through a box of reeds quickly because only a few will play well for you? Do you find your reeds grow mold (through no fault of your own) and cease to be functional? Have you ever played in very dry weather conditions and your reed becomes a squeaker?
As any reed player can attest, these experiences are the norm when using cane reeds.

But there is another way! Synthetic reeds.

During a stint of playing clarinet, alto sax and tenor sax in a pit orchestra, a sister clarinetist suggested I try Legere Reeds. If you have ever played in a pit orchestra, you know that often you have very little time to transition between instruments. Certainly not enough time to re-moisten a reed! But synthetic reeds offer a successful alternative. Since they are ready to play without moistening, you can switch instruments quickly and confidently.

And they sound good! When synthetic reeds were first developed, there were valid complaints that the sound was not as warm and expressive as cane. Today, those arguments are no longer credible. The Legere website has sound clips of people playing both cane and Legere reeds. Listen and compare the sound produced by the two reeds. Can you tell the difference? I couldn’t.

Based on the great, warm sound and the fact that every reed plays, I switched to synthetics about three years ago.

And there are even more benefits to using synthetic over cane.

The expense of keeping oneself in cane reeds is considerable. In a typical box of 10-15 reeds, you never know how many will be “good” reeds. And by good, I mean playable without needing to put a lot of work into it. That’s one reason why you buy them by the box. When you pick one out and start to break it in and it’s not working, you can reach in the box and start a new one. Of course, storing the first reed carefully. It just may play well later. Sure, uhn-huh.

All this reed care takes a lot of time. Not only are you buying boxes of reeds (multiple boxes if you are doubling!), but you inevitably spend time working them up. Sanding, smoothing, shaving, using dutch rush, clipping. These are just some of the techniques we use for making a cane reed playable.

I require my students to keep at least two cane reeds in their reed guard, ready to play, so there is always a backup reed in a pinch. Students who play synthetic reeds do not have that requirement.

And speaking of students, because new clarinet and saxophone players don’t have any experience on how a reed should play, they could easily end up playing on a bad reed and not know it. They find it hard to play but aren’t aware that it might be the reed’s fault! When you start new players out on synthetic reeds, reed problems are removed from the equation. As a teacher, you can focus on embouchure and other basics, knowing the reed is a good reed.

Synthetic reeds do not absorb and trap moisture and bacteria that can grow in a moist environment. This makes them a hygienic reed. You can play while you have a cold, clean your reed after playing on it, and not re-infect yourself when you’re back to good health.

There are a lot of good manufacturers of synthetic reeds today. I have tested Legere, Fibracell, Bari, and Harry Hartman’s Fiberreeds. Legere has an exchange policy that allows you to exchange reeds until you find the correct strength for your setup. Once I found the correct strength, I have played on a reed for many months. This works out to be quite economical. Synthetic reed prices range from $15 to $25 for a single reed, and can be found on sale for as little as $9.95. Even paying $25 for one synthetic reed is a better deal than paying $25 for a box of 10 cane reeds. That one synthetic reed plays fabulously! How many of those cane reeds will play fabulously and how long will they last?

Summary: Why choose synthetic reeds?

• give you great sound
• every reed plays
• you spend more time playing and no time sanding
• they’re economical
• they’re hygienic.